Knowledge, Language and Intellection from Origen to Gregory Nazianzen: A Selective Survey

216 Pages·2017·1.102 MB·

by  Anna Usacheva

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A EARLY CHRISTIANITY
Epistemological theories of the patristic authors seldom attract attention of the re- C
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searchers. This unfortunate status quo contrasts with a crucial place of the theory
E
IN THE CONTEXT
of knowledge in the thought of such prominent authors as Origen and the Cappa-
docian fathers. This book surveys the patristic epistemological discourse in its vari-
ous settings. In the context of the Church history it revolves around the Eunomian
OF ANTIQUITY
controversy, Eunomius’ language theory and Gregory Nazianzen’s cognitive theory,
where the ideas of Apostle Paul were creatively combined with the Peripatetic teach-
ing. In the framework of Biblical exegesis, it touches upon the issues of the textual
criticism of the Homeric and Jewish scholarship, which had significantly shaped
Edited by Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Christine Shepardson, Jörg Ulrich
Origen’s paradigm of the Biblical studies.
Anna Usacheva
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Anna Usacheva holds a PhD in Classical Philology and was a lecturer in Patristics
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and Ancient Languages at St. Tikhon Orthodox University (Moscow, Russia). Cur- n
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rently, she is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of A
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Theology, Aarhus University (Denmark).
ISBN 978-3-631-73109-3
Knowledge, Language and Intellection from Origen to Gregory Nazianzen
EARLY CHRISTIANITY
IN THE CONTEXT
OF ANTIQUITY

Edited by David Brakke,
Anders-Christian Jacobsen,
Jörg Ulrich

Advisory board:
Hanns Christof Brennecke, Ferdinand R. Prostmeier
Einar Thomassen, Nicole Kelley
Jakob Engberg, Carmen Cvetkovic
Ellen Muehlberger, Tobias Georges

Volume 18

Zu Qualitätssicherung und Peer Review Notes on the quality assurance and
der vorliegenden Publikation peer review of this publication

Die Qualität der in dieser Reihe Prior to publication, the quality
erscheinenden Arbeiten wird vor der of the work published in this
Publikation durch die Herausgeber der series is reviewed by the editors
Reihe sowie durch Mitglieder des of the series and by members of
Wissenschaftlichen Beirates geprüft. the academic advisory board.
Anna Usacheva

Knowledge, Language
and Intellection
from Origen to
Gregory Nazianzen
A Selective Survey
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at
http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of
Congress.

ISSN 1862-197X
ISBN 978-3-631-73109-3 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-73110-9 (E-PDF)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-73111-6 (EPUB)
E-ISBN 978-3-631-73112-3 (MOBI)
DOI 10.3726/b11833
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To my mother

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ..............................................................................11
Introduction ..........................................................................................13
Part One: Language and Theological Knowledge in the
Teachings of Origen, Basil and Eunomius .........................................21
Introduction to Part One .........................................................................21
Chapter 1. Epistemological and Pedagogical Debates of Late
Antiquity: Language, Logic and Theology ...............................................22
1. Epistemology from the Hellenistic epoch to Late Antiquity:
Aristotelian methodological turn ......................................................22
1.1 The epistemological conundrums of the Hellenic
grammatical and medical studies ..............................................25
1.2 Philological paradigm of Hellenic paideia .................................29
2. Logic and a verified belief in Christian education..............................34
Chapter 2. Epistemological and methodological
principles of Origen’s biblical studies ......................................................38
1. Institutional framework of Alexandrian
scholarship and Origen’s biblical studies ...........................................38
2. Origen’s exegetic methodology and Hellenic grammarians ...............51
Chapter 3. Eunomian teaching in the context of
philosophical and pedagogical debates ....................................................59
1. Philosophical background of Eunomian teaching .............................59
2. Historical and social context of Eunomian teaching .........................64
2.1 Gregory vs. Julian: a pedagogical debate ...................................64
2.2 The Cappadocian fathers vs. Eunomians: how
the debate started ......................................................................67
2.3 Polemical rhetoric of the Cappadocians and
Eunomians: an unjustified reasoning .........................................70
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Chapter 4. Logical, linguistic and grammatical theories
in the doctrines of Origen, Basil and Eunomius .......................................73
1. The post-Nicene debate: a terminological introduction .....................73
1.1 Stoic linguistics at the service of Christian thought ...................76
1.2 The categorial theory and correlation between
logic and linguistics ...................................................................80
2. Hellenic philosophers, Eunomius and Origen on the
correctness of names .........................................................................83
3. The language theories of Origen and Basil,
and Stoic linguistics ..........................................................................93
4. Methodology of the theological discourse
of Origen and Basil ...........................................................................99
4.1 Conceptual theology and the notion of epinoia .........................99
4.2 The categorial theory in the Trinitarian doctrine .....................106
Conclusion ............................................................................................111
Part Two: Epistemology and Human Intellection in the
Theological Orations of Gregory Nazianzen ..................................115
Introduction to Part two .......................................................................115
Chapter 1. The methodological framework
of the theological orations .....................................................................115
Introduction ..........................................................................................115
1. Method in the theological orations: historical
evidence and modern scholarship ...................................................117
2. A reception paradigm of the theological orations............................122
3. Style and argumentative strategies of the theological orations.........130
3.1 The objectives of the theological circle:
Gregory’s explicit testimony ....................................................130
3.2 Dialectical argumentation in the theological orations .............135
3.3 Exegetic theology and Aristotelian categorial theory ...............141
Chapter 2. The essential predication of the divine
nature in the context of Eunomianism ...................................................147
Introduction ..........................................................................................147
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1. Aristotelian epistemology and the essential predication theory .......150
1.1 An ontological account of essential predication ......................150
1.2 An epistemological account of essential predication ................153
2. Essential predication in Gregory’s system ........................................154
2.1 Disproving the Eunomians: scientific accuracy
in theological reasoning ..........................................................154
2.2 “Being” as a predicate of the divine nature .............................157
2.3 The efficient and final causes and the
hypostatic relationships ..........................................................160
2.3.1 The causal relationships of the divine hypostases .........161
3. God as a primary nature and a cause of the universe ......................168
3.1 The Peripatetic definition of primary nature ...........................168
3.2 Gregory’s understanding of primary nature ............................169
Summary ...............................................................................................173
Chapter 3. The physiological and anthropological
aspects of epistemological theory ..........................................................173
Introduction ..........................................................................................173
1. The epistemological aspects of the
Aristotelian theory of the soul ........................................................175
2. Gregory on the theory of knowledge and the
intellective faculties of the human being..........................................182
3. God as maintainer and rationale of the universe .............................189
4. Intellection as the image of God and τέλος
of the human being .........................................................................192
Conclusion ............................................................................................195
Selected Bibliography .........................................................................199
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